Cattle 1853 - Lewis Family Farm

THE DERBY BREED.
The preceding cut is'a faithful portrait of one of the best of them.
The horns are altogether characteristic.
The Derbyshire cows were originally long-horns ; and although of
a somewhat inferior breed, they were very useful animals, and especially
in the dairies of this county, the cheese of which has long been
admired. What cross gave them their peculiar character, and especially
their singular horns, it is ngw impossible to determine. The
head was frequently thick and heavy, the chops and neck foul, the
bone too large, the hide heavy, and the hair long ; even the bag was
often overgrown and covered with hair—a circumstance very objec-
tionable to the dairyman ; they were little disposed, to take on flesh
and fat, yet they were excellent dairy cows.
DERBY BULL.
This cut gives a faithful representation of the old Derby bull.
This breed, however, has gradually died away, and it is comparatively
seldom that a pure Derby can now be met with. The short-horns
have taken possession of this portion of the territory of the long-horns
also, and there are few dairy farmers now, and especially in the
neighborhood of Derby, that have any long-horns in their dairies
and yet it is confidently asserted that some cows of the ancient
stock have yielded as much as seventeen pounds of butter in a
week.
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